[To Do] Allow turning off Student to do list

[flanagant]

Problem statement:

Since teachers are sometimes enrolled in some course shells as students they get a Student to do list at the top right of their dashboard. Some teachers find this distracting and would like to be able to turn it off.

Proposed solution:

Some teachers find the Student to do list on their dashboard distracting and would like to be able to turn it off. Create some kind of toggle to turn this feature on or off.

User role(s):

instructor

🔎 This idea has been archived. While this idea isn't open for comments, it is an important part of Instructure’s idea conversations and development process. Contributions like this are valuable as Instructure prioritizes work on new or existing features.

[KristinL]

Hi @flanagant -

Thank you for sharing this idea with the Community!

There are a few related ideas, but nothing that talks about the use of To Dos in the same way you described.

Instructor

Disable the To Do List - Instructure Community  

As a former teacher, I have some concerns with applying this to the Student role. While it makes sense for professional learners (or teachers learning from other teachers), if this was for all Students, some students may not use the feature correctly, and consequentially, miss out on some key pieces of information in their courses.

In this use case, perhaps a custom role could be created for the observing teachers and then have that custom role have the options. While I'm not part of the Product Team, that was something that came to mind as I read your proposal.

[jmkruse]

This new feature is ridiculous!  I know what my students need to do; I need CANVAS to put the Teacher To Do list back in the upper right hand corner of my Dashboard!  Just as the students' Dashboards are geared to what they need to know, my teacher Dashboard should be focused on what applies immediately to me.

Please put it back the way it was or provide a way for teachers to set that to their preferences.

THANK YOU!

[KristinL]

Hi @flanagant and @jmkruse -

I wanted to add to this conversation (and help others who find the thread). This change was part of the Canvas Deploy Notes (2022-11-09). You can read more about the change and how it impacts the different User Roles.

[AngelPoole]

Yes!!!  I agree this is AWFUL!!!!  Change it back or make a way for instructors to re-order!  Such a pain in the butt in an already hectic day.  

[audra_agnelly]

I am receiving complaints from teachers about this. It may be better for everyone to share feedback on the deploy notes Q&A: https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Releases-Q-A/Feature-Q-amp-A-Canvas-Deploy-Notes-2022-11-0...

[AllisonHowell]

Thank you for your swift feedback. I wanted to provide some explanation as to why your experience changed and also how we’re going to make it better after reading through your comments.

Over the summer a customer reported that users with non-student enrollments were not seeing items for their student enrollments in their To Do lists. Our documentation states that if you are enrolled in Canvas courses as a teacher and a student, To Do List items for both roles will appear. After digging in, we found the bug and fixed it, adding the clear title distinction so that users could quickly see what needed to happen for each of their roles.

I know you would like the option to remove your student To Do List altogether; however, many teachers and administrators rely on them to complete requirements for the courses in which they are students. That being said, I understand your pain and we are going to flip the lists so that Teacher To Do appears above Student To Do. I know this isn’t the perfect solution for everyone, but I think it’s a good compromise to meet the needs of the whole Canvas community. 

So, we are declining this idea, but we are accepting this related idea.

[KristinL]

Thank you @AllisonHowell!